The Scoop - a Gen-2 Kinman pickup
Mid 70's Big Headstock Stratocaster
The Scoop with Kinman's Gen-2 technology
Frequently seen Forum comment “Noiseless Strat pickups sound different to genuine single coils” Until recently that did have an element of truth in it, but not anymore.
News flash Apr-2021: Now with our new Synergy baseplate that allows switching off Hum Cancelling as well as switching to 'Synergy' mode.
Here is The Scoop, it uses our remarkable Gen-2 technology to give you the same sound as a mid 70's Fender pickup which is an astounding achievement for a noiseless Strat pickup.
Recommended for clean to distortion Strat* sounds. Richie Blackmore and John Mayer sounds too.
Outstanding characteristics: Much the same as the Big Dipper neck from Fender and Duncan. Deeply scooped lower midrange, purity of highs, less aggression that all other Strat models so the sound is very smooth. Resists crunching at clean loud room volume. Due to milder attack the plain strings in particular sound extremely sweet and pretty, light and very open, almost acoustic, natural and transparent. The wound strings have deeply scooped midrange, not much of piano mid-tones or sharp attack and have a deeper bass than most Stratocaster pickups.
Additional benefits: There is a whole lot less magnetic string pull than regular Strat pickups so consequently there is no Strat-itis pitch warbling and string crash, just pure sustaining musical energy like you've never heard before (unless you already have Kinman Gen-2 pickups). Balanced G-3rd string loudness. Position 2 & 4 produces a milder version of Knopfler-esque sounds in a set of 3. You will get Zero-Hum, longer sustain, minimized fret buzz and quite pretty mid 70's non-aged sound with this pickup. Balanced 3rd string loudness.
Waxing the Lyrical: The name was chosen for it's sonic similarity to Fender’s mid 70's and Big-Dipper pickups. The most acoustic, natural sounding Strat model we make. Softer attack and the strings can be pounded and the sound won’t crunch naturally. This could not be achieved with conventional technology, it took several revolutionary technologies that were pioneered, invented and Patented by Kinman.
Signal chain requirements: Any old cable won't do. It is essential to use a low capacitance cable to get the incredible performance of this pickup.
Comparison to others: The Impersonator A69 has less scoop, a tad more volume, snap and dynamic response. Choose an Impersonator E69 bridge pickup if you want a balanced bridge sound or the Mayer set which is fully graduated with 3 different models from bridge to neck.
Tech stuff: The Gen-2 models have taller magnets and taller coil with Kinman's patented magnetic focusing device incorporated. In concert with a squashed 600 Ohm hum-sensing coil all these new features produces non-aged sound. As of 10-Sep-2018 the pickups that have narrow and intermediate magnet spreads incorporate our new Gen-2+ technology which restores the slight but noticeable loss of attack & presence when the magnets are placed closer together to align with strings off a narrow spaced twin Pivot bridge. More technical info below.
Works well in any Kinman Goodbye-Soldering Harness.
Some people will call these noiseless Stratocaster pickups but Kinman prefers to describe them correctly as Zero-Hum Stratocaster pickups. That's because there are 2 types of noise, Hum which is cancelled in the pickup and Buzz which can only be minimized by shielding the wiring cavities (refer to >Technical >Perfect Guitar >Shielding for newer guitars
Under the Hood of The Scoop you can see the taller upper coil and the squashed lower 600 Ohm Hum sensor. What you can't see is our patented Magnetic Focusing device inside the tall coil.
The Scoop - specification nomenclature
US Patents 5,668,520 6,103,986 8,791,351
Introduced Dec-2014
To cancel hum we added a sonically transparent 600 ohm Hum Sensor coil to the bottom of the pickup which is designed with a low profile coil so it doesn’t make the pickup too tall. This Hum Sensor is extremely efficient and uses big wire and low turns count to minimize capacitance so it has no impact on the string signal as it passes through. The Hum Sensor is so transparent it can be disconnected without causing any change to the sound of the pickup (except it will have hum of course). Additionally, the low profile Hum Sensing bobbin allows us to make a taller string sensor which in turn and in combination with a Patented magnetic invention allows the pickup to produce non-aged sound. That is ….. bright and sparkly with varying degrees of mid scoop just like the best Strat pickups of yesteryear when they were brand new.
Kinman, like no other noiseless Strat pickup, has broken through the compression / transparency barrier. Now you can compare Apples with hum to Apples without hum. Introducing the new T-100 Generation-2 hum cancelling Stratocaster pickups, the world’s first non-aged hum-cancelling Strat pickup. T is for Triumph and 100 is 100% single coil sound. This new model represents a major milestone in the evolution of Fender type pickups as it has taken about 26 years of inventive thinking to achieve. The Kinman P-90 Hx and this new model re-affirms Kinman as the King of noiseless.
Mixing and matching with other Strat pickups: Some players will love The Scoop in all 3 positions (bridge, middle and neck) to get nicely balanced authentic vintage sounds from all 5 positions. The new Impersonator E69 makes a good companion bridge pickup and pos 2 is reasonable authentic Knopfler-esque. But if you prefer an even hotter bridge pickup the Impersonator E56 bridge pickup is powerful, sweet and loud
How does it compare to the Traditional Mk-III set? The Trad Mk-III has aged sound which means more midrange content (less scooped), less brilliant highs and compresses (crunches) when picked hard. The Scoop has non-aged sound and therefore has highly scooped mids, brilliant highs and like a new pickup does not compress / crunch when picked hard.
Covers
Connection means available
Dimensions
Pot & Capacitor values
Magnet spreads we normally ship (ensures magnets align with the strings in each position)
Magnet Staggers
Hook-up cable
Output Polarity:
Mounting hardware included
Covers
We highly recommend consulting the Install Guide in the Technical section even if you think you know it all. Kinmans' require specialized knowledge and sometimes there is updated info. There is also a handy wiring diagram available.
We also highly recommend consulting the Adjust & Set-up page in the Technical section so you get the best out of your Kinman pickups.
** Alnico-K is a unique proprietary Alnico rod magnet developed by Kinman in 1985. It is Alnico-5 but has 40% less string pull than Alnico-5 so sustain is longer and there is much less clatter from string crash and no Strat-itis string warble.
* Fender and Stratocaster and Strat are registered Trade Marks of Fender Musical Instrument Corp, Inc. Kinman is not associated with FMIC but they kindly permit us to refer to their Trade Marks to reference our products.
